David Cameron and Greensill Capital row explained – and why you should care
| Published date | 31 March 2021 |
Mr Cameron described the decision to exclude Greensill Capital from the multibillion-pound scheme as "nuts".
"What we need is for Rishi Sunak to have a good look at this and ask officials to find a way of making it work," Mr Cameron wrote in one e-mail to a No10 advisor, published by the Sunday Times.
In texts published by the Treasury, Mr Sunak replied to him, saying "I have pushed the team to explore an alternative" and said Mr Cameron should get a response from a senior civil servant at the Treasury.
Officials ultimately refused the appeal and Greensill collapsed in March, putting thousands of jobs in the British steel industry at risk.
Labour has also been pushing for an MP-led inquiry into the role played by Mr Greensill in the coalition government, where he was an unpaid advisor.
It might sound complicated but the row is important as it raises broader questions about who has access to Government and whether the system around lobbying is tough enough.
Here we break down what the story is about and why you should care.
Who is Lex Greensill
Australian banker Lex Greensill founded a financial services company called Greensill Capital in 2011, which collapsed in March this year.
Greensill was the main financial backer of Liberty Steel -which employs around 5,000 people at 11 sites across Britain -and its collapse has left these workers facing an uncertain future.
Mr Greensill, a former billionaire, also acted as an unpaid Downing Street adviser during the coalition years and was given access to a number of Government departments.
During the pandemic, his firm was accredited to a scheme known as the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, allowing it to make state-backed loans of up to £50million at a time.
What are his links to David Cameron
Mr Greensill was brought in as an unpaid adviser when Mr Cameron was Prime Minister.
During this time, he was also given security passes to various Government departments.
Reports in the Sunday Times suggest Mr Greensill was able to promote a financial product for pharmacists that he had been working on during this period.
After leaving Downing Street in 2016, Mr Cameron himself went to work for Greensill Capital as an adviser two years later.
He came under fire when it emerged that he had sent texts to Chancellor Rishi Sunak 's private phone to call for financial support through the Government's COVID Corporate Financing Facility.
The company subsequently went bust after its application for support was rejected.
What about the business card
Fresh questions were asked about Mr Greensill's role after Labour got hold of his business card from 2012, which described him as a "Senior Advisor" in the Prime Minister's office.
The card includes a Downing Street email address and a landline telephone number, laying out in black and white how Mr Greensill had an official role in Government.
It is understood that this information was available on the Greensill website at the time and a source at Greensill verified the card's authenticity.
Downing Street said he acted as a Supply Chain Finance Adviser from 2012 to 2015 and as a Crown Representative for three years from 2013.
While it is not uncommon for business people to hold advisory roles, Labour said it raises questions about the kind of access Mr Greensill was granted.
Who did David Cameron contact in Government
Mr Cameron admitted he should have gone "through only the most formal of channels" after it emerged that he had texted Rishi Sunak's personal phone to lobby on behalf of Greensill Capital.
Mr Sunak confirmed that the ex-PM had also contacted two other Treasury ministers, Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen and Jesse Norman, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
It was later reported Mr Cameron had arranged a "private drink" between Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Mr Greensill to discuss a payment scheme later rolled out in the NHS.
Has anyone else in Government been linked to Greensill
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